The present invention relates to a safety needle, which comprises a hypodermic needle equipped with a safety shield to guard healthcare workers from accidental needlestick injuries.
In addition the shield completely encapsulates the needle and any contaminants that may be on it. More specifically, the invention relates to a hypodermic needle with deployable a shield deployed upon and during retraction of needle. The present invention may be used for example with IV infusion sets, blood collection devices, insulin syringes, dental syringes, and the administration of medication by syringe and hypodermic needles.
Needlestick injuries in the U.S. cost 1.6 billion annually and are a source of immeasurable suffering. This cost is associated with the preventive treatment administered to healthcare workers experiencing a needlestick injury and the treatment of healthcare workers actually infected due to the injury. An additional burden to the establishment is through lost working days and in the case of infection the replacement of healthcare workers not able to return to the workforce.
In response to this growing problem, the needlestick prevention mandate, Bill 13-266 was passed by congress in October 2000 and became effective Apr. 18, 2001. The Needlestick Safety Prevention Act H.R 5178 law 106 430 was passed into law on Nov 6, 2000. The need for a safer needlestick prevention product, combined with the needlestick prevention mandate, creates a need for a cost effective means of preventing needlestick injuries. The healthcare communities adoption and compliance with the mandate has created a growing demand for safer needles.
When administering medication or drawing blood from potentially infected individuals, standard needle and syringe arrangements leave the healthcare worker exposed to contaminated needles during recapping and transfer to a sharps container and thereby expose the healthcare professional to the danger of a needlestick injury and exposure to contagious diseases such as HIV, TB, Hepatitis as well as many other diseases. Another reported high risk of accidental needle pricks is the recapping of the needle before disposal. In some cases, it has been reported that the needle punctured through the sidewall of the cap and punctured the finger holding the cap. In the last few years many new safety syringes have been introduced on the market, most requiring the complete retooling of the existing syringes, adding cost and delaying the introduction of those safety syringes. The many designs available results in additional inventory due to the multiple product combinations thereby increasing cost. These safety syringes have permanently attached needles of varying lengths, needle gage and volume capacity. Due to the dramatic departure from the standard syringe arrangement more comprehensive training is also required. All these factors combined with the need for additional training has added cost to healthcare and may discourage the use of safety syringes and slow the adoption of their use.
With this invention the safety is built into the needle, this does not affect any of the products that may need to work with the syringe or the hypodermic needle. There is no change in the number of parts the hospital has to inventory. The safety needle of the present invention has the ability to adapt to all syringes regardless of volume capacity.
The proposed invention will address each of the objections to and limitations of existing safety syringes and safety needles.